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I have a vivid memory of watching my mother sew when I was a little girl. I remember barely being taller than the table and peering over it to watch my mother embroider a reindeer onto my baby brother’s outfit (well, Phil was a baby back then:). I was about 3 or 4 years old. Often, I would stand next to mother to get a peek of the dresses or play clothes she would sew for us. My curiosity must have slowed her down because I would often step on the peddle just to watch the needle oscillate up and down. As a child, I was just fascinated by this machine. The irony is my daughter now does this to me and she is 3-1/2 years old. Hopefully the memory will be imprinted in her heart as well:)

Well, the Singer Sewing Machine my mother used had a lot of sentimental value. Mom had sewn with her Singer machine when she first came to America in 1975 and eventually I was sewing little projects on it when I was a teenager. So it was my very first sewing machine. We were hoping that one day it would be an heirloom in our family. But like the rest of our material belongings, we lost the sewing machine in a house fire back in 1998. Yes, that was a challenging time in our lives, but from that, we learned that every cloud has a silver lining. So let’s focus on the silver lining shall we?

Over the years, when Mother needed to sew something, she would borrow my old Brother Brand sewing machine. Every time she used it, she would reminisce on her Singer and tell me how much easier it was to use. There was a time I was shopping on Craigslist in hopes that one day I could surprise Mom on her birthday. But guess what? My sister-in-law ,Carly, had a similar one that was passed down to her from her Grandmother. And when Carly decided she wanted to learn how to sew, she purchased a computerized Brother CS6000i sewing machine and gave Mom her Grandmother’s. So, let’s just say…everyone was happy:) Yippee!

In the past years, I have been approached many times about a good Beginner sewing machine. Since my following machine was a Brother Brand after we lost the Singer, I encouraged people to read reviews on the Brother Sewing Machines. But if I could, in my opinion, I would highly recommend everyone to purchase a Bernina Artista 640 — the sewing machine I use now. I had purchased it when I had my Bridal Studio and just love it. However, this is definitely not practical for a beginner sewer:)

My Bernina

Well, not long ago, Carly asked me to show her how to use her Brother CS6000i so she can reupholster her dining chairs…of course it’s hard to resist when I get to SEW & TEACH and of course she is my sister-in-law:) After reading the manual and playing with the machine, I actually liked it as a beginner machine. It had a lot of options and was a great deal for the price. Then recently, my Aunt Phuong from California messaged me about getting a sewing machine so she can hem her own pants. Now I can confidently suggest the Brother CS6000i. I plan on purchasing 4 of them myself by the end of the year so I can teach a small group of Beginners how to sew. Exciting!

So anyway…if one of your New Year’s Resolution is to learn how to sew and you need a machine, check out the Brother CS6000i Machine — Remember to read the reviews so you can be confident about the purchase. Well, I’m excited to announce that I now have a Youtique Amazon Shop. Since Amazon has great customer service and are reliable, I decided to open a little shop to help Aspiring Beginner Sewers. I only have a few items at this time (including the Brother CS6000i & DIY Wedding Books) — items I thought would be helpful to Beginner Sewers & DIY Brides. However, please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for my Shop. This is just one of the first reveals of all the exciting things happening in 2014 for me. I will be sharing more with you soon! Feel free to check out my shop & the different item categories by clicking on the image below:) Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a Fabulous day:) Let’s start getting creative and sew!